Our local police force, Cheshire Constabulary, are seeing an alarming rise in the number of serious sexual assaults being carried out by asylum seekers.
I raised the issue in Parliament last week (after receiving this information from local police chiefs) and urged government to act to safeguard our communities.
During Commons Business Questions I called for a review of government policy into removing foreign offenders, as well as an overhaul of how risk assessments are carried out ahead of asylum seekers being placed in accommodation centres.
This is not scaremongering. I was deeply disturbed by what I read in the correspondence from the police. These are crimes happening on our doorstep; serious sexual assaults including on children.
Government confirmed it is aware of the recent attacks in Cheshire and comments made by Commons Leader Lucy Powell (in response to my questioning) are a matter of public record.
Ms Powell said “I am aware of some of the incidents that have happened in Cheshire and how alarming they must be for the local community and the local police force. They are absolutely totally abhorrent and unacceptable in all those cases. She (Esther) is right to say that there is a range of issues that can be taken further.”
Ms Powell also said to me, “there are also particular issues with asylum hotels and the companies that run them, which I will take up for her.”
This Labour government has not presented a serious plan to tackle illegal immigration. Scrapping the Rwanda scheme was a major mistake as the government now doesn’t have a third country to send illegal immigrants to when they destroy their documentation (and so cannot return them to their home country). The National Crime Agency said Rwanda was a deterrent and by scrapping the scheme this government has lost the very deterrent which would have prevented illegal immigrants coming to the country.
The police have raised the matter with the Home Office, and I will continue raising it at the highest level to ensure my constituents are safe. I have already written to the Home Secretary about my concerns following this correspondence and will request meetings with ministers to discuss it further.
My thoughts are with the victims and their families of these heinous crimes.
